


You Were My Ghost

by Drifter90



Category: Dragon Age - All Media Types, Mass Effect - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Crossover, Dragon Age: Inquisition Spoilers, F/F, F/M, Fade Dreams, Gen, Humor, Mass Effect 3, Modern Character in Thedas, Sarcasm, Slow Burn, Slow To Update, The Fade
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-11
Updated: 2021-02-19
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:34:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 15,715
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23107051
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Drifter90/pseuds/Drifter90
Summary: Lt. Rowan Rinefire, N7 Alliance veteran, watched in horror the day the Earth fell to the Reapers. After six days dedicated solely to surviving, she finds herself in a world like a waking dream. When she does wake up she'll find that she's fallen out of the Reapers' frying pan and into the fires of Thedas.*Formerly titled "Manhunt" but the story has shifted directions and I feel this new title fits better.* 6/10/20 Rewrote Chapter 1.
Comments: 8
Kudos: 30





	1. The Feelings Journal

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first attempt at writing fan fiction, I've been writing for a while but this is my first time participating on a website like this. Part of my reason for joining the site is that I'm actually doing it for a class, so any and all engagement would be greatly appreciated.

“This is the audio journal of Lt. Rowan Pinefire… hello. 

Fuck, that sounds stupid. The fuck am I supposed to say in this thing? Hi! I’m Rowan, I tossed my commanding officer across the room because he’s an ass hat and now I have to go to court ordered anger management to avoid being dishonorably discharged. Part of that is keeping a journal about my day and what feelings come up during it. 

This is dumb. 

I’m goddamn N7. I was in the Skyllian Blitz and now I’m in the American Museum of Natural and Space History. ‘Alliance liaison’. Fucking tour guide. 

If one more tourist compares my hair to ‘the fierce fires of a red dwarf’ or comments on my ‘emerald eyes’, I’m ending them.

And now I’m getting heated. Shit. Talk about something else. I had my physical this morning. Still 5’11”, still maintaining fighting shape… so that’s good… that makes me feel… good. Happy. This break room also makes me happy. Tourists aren’t allowed in here.

Hold on. 

Something’s going on outside, end log.”

***

“Day One of the Siege of Earth: it looks like Shepard gets to say ‘I told you so.’ The Reapers attacked without warning. It was complete chaos–– 

I’m going to be using this journal to document… I don’t know what I’m documenting. Our last days? I don’t know. Maybe my _feelings_ … and _how. My. Day went_.

The remaining guards and I managed to wrangle some civilians into the museum’s planetarium. We’ve secured all of the entrances to the building and all of the rooms leading to this one. Definitely can’t hold it for long but we’ll have some warning before they get to us. Other than myself, there are eight guards and sixty four civilians; seventeen of those are children.

Maybe if we keep a low profile we can go unnoticed.

End log”

***

“Day Two of the Siege of Earth: New York City is a complete warzone. Our comms are down. Two of the guards and I took a peek outside. There were no hostiles anywhere to be seen but we could hear gunfire and screams in the distance–– 

There was a crashed Alliance shuttle just outside the building. We decided it was worth the risk. I didn’t see the Dragon’s Teeth until we got to the shuttle. I don’t know how I missed them. They’re everywhere. When I did see them, I was right back on Eden Prime––

Anyway. There were supplies in the shuttle. Rations, armor, and weapons. I claimed a pistol and Viper sniper rifle. Holding a rifle again made me feel happy.

There was also a––” <the sound of a deep breath and a heavy sigh>

“End log.”

***

“Day Three: The husks are getting into the museum. Hunting for survivors. We’ve been trying to take them out as quietly as possible. 

It would help if we had another biotic. I can only do so much. This museum is too big. Even after arming some of the civilians, we don’t have the manpower to patrol effectively. We should move to the basement. 

I’ll bring it up tomorrow.

End log.”

***

“Fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck. We got hit. A group of marauders got into the museum. They snuck up on the guards and killed them. They got into the planetarium and we lost ten in the ambush. Three guards, seven civilians. No kids, thank god.

Fuck, this hurts.

I lost my rifle. 

I took a round to the hip but managed to cave the bastard's skull in with the rifle. It broke. 

I liked that rifle. It reminded me of my service weapon.”

***

“Day Five of the Siege of Earth: Today was quiet. We retreated into the sublevels of the museum; sealing off the entrances. 

The good news: there doesn’t appear to be any damage to the bone thanks to the armor.

The bad news: I can’t stop the bleeding. Medi-gel wasn’t something we scavenged from the shuttle. And on top of that, using my biotics to keep pressure on the wound is giving me a migraine that won’t go away.

I’m slowing down. 

End log.”

***

“Day Six of the Siege of Earth: I’m on patrol. Limping along. Everything’s fine.

The Reaper forces haven’t found any way into the sublevels. I can hear the husks roaming around on the floor above. 

Some of the children have been saying there are strange noises coming from one of the locked storerooms. There is no way into the room from the exterior of the building and the others have been brushing it off as the imagination of bored kids. 

Still. I’m bored too. Might as well take a look.

Here we are. Door is locked. No strange noises–– 

Hold on. What is––?

It sounds like… electricity?

Okay. Here we go.” <The sound of heavy breathing and then a door being kicked in.>

“Fuck. That hurt.

Anybody in––?”

<Heavy breathing.> “Please stop spinning.” <Heavy breathing.> “Damn it.”

<Heavy breathing.> <crackle of electricity.>

“A glowing crate. This should be fun. ‘The Orb: Object of unknown origin. Found on an archaeological dig in Ireland.’ Fun. ‘Possible extraterrestrial origins.’ You don’t say?” <creaking of the crate being opened.>

“Well it stopped glowing.

To whoever finds this journal, just know I died picking up something I probably shouldn’t be.

It’s heavier than––”

<Recording cuts out>


	2. Where the Train Tracks End

Hair gently flowing in the soft wind, Rowan walked down the long-abandoned train tracks overgrown with grass. Grass that was a lush and vibrant green not too long ago, but was now starting to wilt and turn brown. The woods lining either side of the path were a magnificent sight; the tops of the trees were vibrant oranges, yellows, and reds. Like a forest set ablaze, with leaves falling like dancing embers in the gentle breeze. All of this would be a beautiful sight to Rowan, if it hadn’t been Summer just yesterday. 

Rowan had no idea how long she’d been in this world. After the flash of green light an intense pain coursed through her body and the next thing she knew she was waking up under a tree near the train tracks. 

Instead of her work clothes and the scavenged armor she was wearing in the museum, she found that she was wearing jeans and her N7 hoodie along with combat boots. Next to her was a camping pack with a bedroll, a lantern, and a few other camping supplies including rations. In the pack she also found her combat knife and the N7 Eagle sidearm she had in the service. Her hip was also completely healed, though there was a scar where she was shot.

She lost track of the days sometime after the third week. The overgrown train tracks reminded her of the ones that ran through the woods behind her house on Earth. But given the fact that she’s been traveling along these tracks since waking up here and the sun has been perfectly rising and setting in line with them gave evidence that she wasn’t on Earth anymore.

Rowan walked alone, save for the crow that flew overhead. The crow had been following her for several weeks. They met one day when Rowan was preparing a rabbit she had managed to catch. It had been the first animal Rowan had seen since arriving and it must have been a while for the crow as well because he came right up to Rowan while she was cooking it, begging for scraps. Despite her own hunger, Rowan split her meal with the crow.

Now the two traveled together along the train tracks that lead to town. The Town. After the disorientation she felt when she first woke up wore off she noticed a wooden sign that read: “The Town”, and had an arrow pointing down the train tracks. There were several times when she questioned what she was doing, blindly following the tracks and the signs that popped up every now and then pointing the way, but when she ventured into the woods she’d be overcome with a sense of dread that would make her turn around almost immediately; and turning around to try the other direction along the train tracks seemed futile at this point.

Rowan and the crow traveled along the tracks wordlessly as the sun started to set. The crow wasn’t much of a conversationalist most days and Rowan didn’t really feel talkative that evening. She walked along, lost in thought, when suddenly the crow swooped down cutting in front of her. The crow flew down a path to the left of the tracks, through the woods, and perched on a tree just barely still in sight. She stared at the crow for a moment, then down along the tracks, and back to the crow. She couldn’t remember the last time she saw a path leading into the woods and the sight of this one didn’t fill her with comfort. In the end curiosity won out over safety and Rowan started through the woods after the crow. 

Rowan was about halfway to the crow when she realized there was no sense of dread. Her head was completely clear. 

When she got to the tree the crow was perched on she realized they were at the top of a slope overlooking a curious site. The slope ran down for what looked like two hundred feet before leveling off into a clearing. The clearing looked like a sea of grass surrounded by forest. And in the center of this sea was a small field of corn. What made this sight even more strange was that both the clearing and the corn field appeared to be perfect circles. As Rowan stared at the unusual site, an instinctual fear started to creep into the base of her skull. This was different from the normal sense of dread that she associated with the forest. This felt more like a warning. As she stared and tried to make sense of this warning another feeling started to creep in. Hunger. Their last meal was days ago and the crow must have been feeling the same way because Rowan’s stomach rumbled and the crow took off from the tree like a runner after the starting gun. Rowan followed at a cautious pace.

As the pair traveled down the slope, Rowan was caught off guard when she reached the bottom. When she stepped onto what she thought was level ground, her foot sank down into the grass about four feet. Between Rowan and her next meal was a sea of dense grass that came up above her waist. Determined and hungry, Rowan persisted. The light from the sun was disappearing rapidly and she was determined that this was not going to be another night she went to sleep hungry. 

As she waded through the grass her pace was slowed by its thick density. The crow noticed Rowan’s slow pace and would loop back around so as not to get too far ahead. 

Rowan was cautious not to trip on any of the sticks that littered the ground. She couldn’t actually see them because of the tall grass and the fading light, but she could hear the snapping and feel the crunching every now and then when she’d step on one. Rowan did wonder how the ground here got to be so littered with debris given how far from the trees and the forest she was.

All that caution didn’t do Rowan much good though because as she was making her way through the field, in what was now almost complete darkness, something flew past her head, startling her, causing Rowan to lose her balance and fall. Rowan braced herself as she hit the ground and stayed there for a second listening to the flapping of wings and a soft cawing overhead. 

Apparently, thought Rowan, the crow could see as well as she could in the darkness and accidentally got too close during one of his fly-bys. 

Rowan started to pick herself off the ground but paused when she realized she couldn’t hear the crow anymore. She got up but stayed crouched so that her eye line was just above the tops of the grass and she scanned for any sign of life. 

Rowan stayed there listening to the rustling of the grass in the wind and stared out into the night. After a moment she rummaged through her bag, brought out the lantern and her pistol. If she was going to give away her position, she wanted to be ready to defend herself. She lit the lantern, raised it above the field of grass and scanned again for any sign of life. Nothing. 

What Rowan did see was that she was closer than she realized to the corn. She decided to press on and as she did she was accompanied by the familiar sound of crunching. Every few feet. _Crunch ! Snap_ _!_ She got closer to the corn. _Crunch_ _!_ She stopped and angled the lantern down to look at what had been such an annoyance.

She saw bones. The ground was littered with bones. She spun around to look back and saw it was the same behind her. Rowan’s mind began to spin. 

_Crunch!_

That wasn’t Rowan. 

_Snap!_

That came from the right. She turned to look, holding the lantern up, weapon at the ready. 

Nothing. Dread started to creep into the back of her mind. The dread the forest usually brought. 

_Crunch!_

That was behind her, she spun around and saw nothing. Her mind was still racing. She couldn’t get the idea out of her head that the forest itself had set a trap for her. 

_CAW!_

The crow flew by from across the field, low to the top of the grass, yelling loudly, and headed in the opposite direction that the two had come from. In the lantern light, Rowan could see the tall grass shift and dance as whatever was in the field with them gave chase after the crow. 

Rowan was about to turn and run full speed back to the train tracks but stopped. She turned to look at the field of corn. It was right there. 

She ran for the corn. When she reached the edge of the field, she dropped her bag on the ground, and started stuffing corn into it. She got eight ears in and decided not to push her luck. She grabbed her pack and made a beeline for the way she came in. 

Luckily, her original trek into the sea of grass had flattened it a bit and made her exit significantly easier. This didn’t alleviate any of the panic she was feeling though and that panic only intensified as she was nearing the edge of the field and the lantern went out. In that moment of distraction she forgot about the drop when she first entered the field and suddenly felt the earth slam into her waist. 

The top half of her body was flung forward and her face slammed into the side of the slope. Rowan lay there dazed, with the wind knocked out of her. 

_CAW!_ _CAW!_

The crow was right next to her head, tugging at her ear, trying frantically to get Rowan up. The fog cleared from Rowan’s head and she scrambled to get up. Grabbing the lantern and her pistol, she clawed and crawled up the slope desperate to get away. Rowan made it halfway up the slope before she dared to look behind her. When she did, three giant spiders stared back at her from the edge of the shadowy field. They stared at Rowan and Rowan stared back. 

As she locked eyes with them the sense of dread she had been feeling started to intensify. Her mind started to flash back to memories of Eden Prime and the attack on Earth. As this started happening the forms of the spiders started to change. They turned into blurry black masses that started to stand up. Suddenly three husks were standing before Rowan and charged towards her.

A roar from one of the beasts snapped Rowan back to reality and she started firing, killing two of them. The third launched itself on top of her knocking away the gun. 

The husk was on top of her, scratching at her, trying to bite her. She had her left forearm wedged under its neck keeping it at bay and with the right was searching for her pistol. She couldn’t find the gun but felt a rock, grabbed it, and swung as hard as she could. Rowan connected with the side of the husk’s head causing it to roll off her to the side and she rolled with it. Now on top, she used her left hand to pin down the creature and with the rock in the right started hammering down on its skull. Over and over again. 

Eventually the adrenaline wore off and she let the rock fall to her side. Rowan looked down at the husk and just stared for a moment at what used to be a face. 

Suddenly the body evaporated in a puff of black smoke. She looked over at where the other two bodies were and saw that they were gone as well.

Slowly, Rowan got to her feet and looked for the lantern and pistol. She found the lantern but not the Eagle. Not wanting to be there any longer than necessary she started up the slope. She found the crow perched on yet another sign by the train tracks pointing the way towards _The Town_. The crow looked at Rowan in a seemingly disapproving way and opened its mouth when she cut him off: 

_“Not tonight.”_

She opened her bag to show off the corn and the crow hopped back and forth on the sign, happy at the sight of the corn but also wary of Rowan.

The next morning, Rowan woke up to an eerie sight. She opened her eyes to a world covered in dense fog and muted of color. She looked up into the sky trying to find any semblance of the sun so she could get a read on what time of day it was, but no luck; the cloud cover was too thick. Not that it was completely dark. The sky emitted a soft grey glow like a monitor that had power but wasn’t receiving a signal. Like someone had forgotten to turn the sky on that morning. 

To add to the ominous tone, there was a steady unbreaking breeze running through the forest. Like a massive storm was on its way. A storm Rowan was walking directly into. 

Rowan was about to stand up when she heard a noise echo through the forest. 

_Chit. Chit. Chit._

She couldn’t tell where it was coming from. It sounded like it was all around her and being carried on the wind. 

_Chit. Chit. Chit._

She got up, staying on her hands and knees, low to the ground, and looked around for the crow. 

_Chit. Chit. Chit._

She spotted the crow in a tree just in front of her. The crow looked frozen. He was unmoving and nestled down as low as possible to the branch he was on. Staring into the forest. 

_Chit. Chit. Chit._

The sound made the crow twitch. Rowan tried to find what the crow was staring at. 

Through the forest and the dense fog, Rowan was able to make out a shape slowly walking, almost gliding, through the trees. Rowan couldn’t tell how tall the shape was but it looked like a cloaked figure with an animal skull for a head and long antlers protruding from the top. 

_Chit. Chit. Chit._

Rowan was so fixated on this figure that she didn’t notice the squirrel that had come running out of the forest, away from the figure, until it had run across her leg. It startled Rowan causing her hand to slip in the dirt and she fell face forward. 

_Chit. Chit…._

The noise stopped, seemingly mid echo. She lifted her head and peaked into the forest. The figure had stopped moving and was now staring in Rowan’s direction. Rowan could feel the blood drain from her face as a shiver ran down her spine. She was regretting not looking more intently for her sidearm. She slowly moved a hand towards her boot heel and drew her knife.

Suddenly a strong gust of wind picked up, throwing dirt and forest debris in Rowan’s face causing her to instinctively shield her face. When she realized what she was doing, Rowan quickly dropped her hand and saw that the figure was gone.

The next couple of days went by without incident. The most notable thing was a sign post stating that they were now only a day’s walk away from The Town; which was good, since even with rationing, they were down to three and a half pieces of corn. To make things worse, since it had started, the wind hadn’t died down even for a moment. Instead it had only been increasing in intensity. It had gotten to the point where Rowan had to hold onto the crow as they went. 

As evening started to turn to night, Rowan realized they were going to need shelter. Seemingly as she thought this, the pair passed by a sign post that Rowan somehow didn’t notice reading: “ _Church_ ”, with an arrow pointing in the direction they were heading. 

Sure enough a few minutes later Rowan and the crow were passing by a church just as the world was going dark. The thick cloud cover didn’t allow any light from the stars or the moon to shine through. 

The church felt familiar to Rowan. She had vague memories of being in a church like this as a child. Lantern in hand she started wandering around the building with nostalgic remembrance. It was small, made up of only a handful of rooms including the sanctuary where sermons were once held, a small reception area, and then a bell tower. Rowan figured it would be safe to sleep on one of the landings leading up to the bell tower from which they’d be able to see into the sanctuary and also keep an eye on the main entrance. Also, in order to get to the tower, there was a pull-down ladder that was easy to miss when it was pulled up. 

The church seemed untouched and this helped make it feel safe.

The crow, happy to be out of the wind, flew around the sanctuary and then up the tower, stretching his wings and exploring.

Rowan was about to climb up the ladder to the first landing when she realized the church wasn’t as untouched as she thought. When the light of the lantern passed over the sanctum she noticed that the podium at the front had been moved from where it should be. 

Cautiously, Rowan moved into the sanctuary. She made her way to the front of the church and saw that whoever moved the podium moved it closer to the first set of pews so that it was just in front of them. Sitting on top of the podium was three small shapes. As Rowan drew near she could see that they were painted, hand carved wooden figures.

One was a woman with long hair, wearing a long robe. In her hands was a notched bow and arrow. She was painted white. 

The next was a man painted red, he wore what looked like a suit of armor, and held a sword with the blade resting on his shoulder.

The last was seemingly a man. It was hard to tell with the dark black paint. He held a set of scales.

Rowan took a step back and looked at the scene. It almost seemed like someone had pulled the podium over to the seats so they could sit down and stare at the figures displayed on it. Rowan didn’t really know what to make of this but decided to leave everything undisturbed.

She headed back to the ladder, taking extra care not to disturb anything, and climbed up to the first landing where the crow was waiting for her. She set up her sleeping area and laid out a half piece of corn for the crow. 

The crow hopped over to it and looked confused. He looked back and forth from the corn to Rowan, then gestured with his beak to the bag. Rowan shook her head and laid down in her bed roll. The discomfort of knowing someone else had been here killed Rowan’s appetite. All this time in this world, she had seen no real evidence of any other person. And the idea of running into one now was not filling her with excitement. She just wanted to go to sleep, wake in the morning, and move on from this place.

Despite her discomfort and worry, she fell asleep quickly. It was a restless sleep though, plagued with images of the thing from the forest and of husks. That is until she was woken up by the crow pecking lightly on her face. Rowan opened her eyes, sat up, and looked for the crow. He was gone.

Her stomach grumbled. Maybe she should have tried to eat before going to sleep. She looked around and found the crow perched on the railing overlooking the sanctuary. He and Rowan made eye contact; the crow opened his wings and gestured silently downward with his beak. Rowan slowly crawled over to the railing and looked down.

The first thing she noticed was a lantern sitting on the pew at the front of the sanctuary, propped so that its light focused on the podium and the wooden figures. 

Then she noticed the shape sitting just to the side of the lantern in front of the figures. 

Rowan’s eyes adjusted and she saw that it was a girl. Long black hair that fell over her face, her knees were pulled up against her chest. She had one hand extended towards the podium and seemed to be gingerly prodding the figures in the light. After a moment she stopped playing with the figures. She wrapped her arms around her legs and rested her face against her knees.

Rowan made a decision. One she knew the crow wouldn’t be happy with. She grabbed one of the ears of corn from the bag and silently made her way back down to the sanctuary. She made her way cautiously down the aisle and towards the girl. 

Just as she was about to reach the girl, only a few feet from her, she noticed something that made her freeze in place and go cold. Hanging off the back corner of her pew was an animal skull. An animal skull with antlers protruding from the top. 

Rowan didn’t know what to do. She thought about running. No, that would make too much noise. Could she slowly back away? Could she hide? She knelt down and went to pull the knife from her boot. As her hand was about to reach the knife she looked back at the girl and saw she was looking right at her. Without lifting her head, she had turned her face to the side and was staring. She looked tired, Rowan thought, and she suddenly realized how strange a thought that was. Tired and sad. 

They stayed there staring at each other almost trance-like. They stayed like this until Rowan suddenly stood up and stretched out her hands, offering the ear of corn to the girl.

The girl picked her head up, tilted it a little, and gave Rowan a look of bewilderment. Not unlike a look the crow has given her on occasion. 

The girl got up, placed the lantern on the podium so it faced Rowan, and walked over to her. She could now see that she had pale skin, wore a long black coat with a hood on it and dark tattered jeans. She looked to be in her late teens. 

She stopped just in front of Rowan. Still with an investigative look on her face, she studied Rowan from top to bottom. It was as if this image of Rowan, approaching gift in hand, was the most fascinating thing she had ever seen. They continued to stare at each other when all of a sudden, Rowan’s stomach growled. Loudly. This startled the girl and she took a step back. 

Then a look of recognition came across her face. Then a smile. Then a laugh.

Rowan woke up to the sound of the church creaking in the wind. She was back on the stairwell landing, back in her bedroll. Rowan was confused. She looked around for the crow. The crow was curled up on top of her bag in the corner, sound asleep. She was about to write the encounter off as a weird dream when she noticed the wrapping for an ear of corn next to her bedding. Nestled in the wrapping was the three wood carvings.

With the wind working against them, Rowan and the crow took longer than they expected to reach The Town. Rowan had hoped to reach it by mid-day but as the sky grew dark again she knew it would be past nightfall when they reached it. When they _finally_ reached it. How many weeks has she been traveling along these tracks? Months? Rowan looked ahead and saw she was approaching another sign post. Something made her stop though. The ground, the train tracks and even the trees bordering the path seemed to end at the wooden sign and give way to the same darkening sky that was above them.

Approaching cautiously, Rowan found that the ground and tracks did in fact continue but now down a steep slope that eventually leveled off and continued on to a town nestled on the edge of a cliff, surrounded by walls. The Town she presumed. 

Rowan stood at the top of the slope and observed the town for a moment. The town looked like a small fishing village. A familiar fishing village. Minus the walls, this was the village her grandparents lived in and where she spent her summers growing up. She stood there lost in thought. 

Suddenly she heard the sound of something hard tapping against wood. She looked to her right and saw the crow perched on top of the sign pecking at it to get her attention. 

_“Welcome to the town at the end of time. The Town is closed at sunset. Please come back in the morning. Thank You.”_

Rowan laughed. She started hysterically laughing. She sat down on the ground, tears in her eyes, laughing hysterically. She had come all this way, spent all that time walking, and it’s closed. She was finally out of the woods and the town was _closed_. 

The crow hopped down from the sign and tapped her knee.

“What’s one more night?” she asked, wiping the tears from her eyes. Rowan scanned the horizon and saw that off to the left the ground sloped back upwards to what looked like a cliffside that overlooked both the town and the vast sea behind it. As good a place to camp as any other she thought to herself.

So, Rowan picked herself back up and made her way to the cliffside. Thankfully the wind had started to die down a bit and was manageable. Rowan set up camp, started a fire, laid out the two ears of corn for herself and the crow, and settled in for the long night. 

As the dull grey glow of the sky above turned pitch black once more, the only source of light came from Rowan’s campfire and the lights of the lonely town down below. 

As Rowan closed her eyes and started to drift off to sleep the wind started to pick up again. 

Suddenly a bright light lit up the inside of her eyelids and a thunderous noise ripped through the world shaking the ground beneath her. 

Rowan bolted straight up and looked around. The wind was getting worse. She looked towards the town for answers but nothing looked amiss.

The sky lit up with a flash of jade green and seconds later another earth trembling crack of thunder. It came from across the sea.

Pushing against the wind, Rowan walked to the edge of the cliff overlooking the water. She watched as lightning bolt after lightning bolt started to come down across the sea with increasing frequency, each time lighting up the clouds above and the water below with a dark green light that was like nothing Rowan had ever seen before. 

But that was a lie she realized. The orb. She hadn’t thought about the orb in so long but the green of the lightning looked exactly like the green light coming from the orb. 

The storm stretched the entirety of the horizon. This was the storm whose winds they had been feeling for days and it was moving fast in their direction.

Near the town at the end of time, a soldier and a crow stood on the edge of the world. Rowan looked past the cliff, across the sea, and into the oncoming storm. A storm that was coming for the town. For them. 

She sat down next to the rock the crow perched on. She closed her eyes, she felt the wind blow against her face, and took a deep breath as she put her hair into a ponytail. 

She opened her eyes, exhaled, and looked back into the storm. She thought about the world she left behind, the world she was in now, and the world that would come after. Would there be an after?

The two stared into the storm and the crow cawed at it defiantly. Rowan turned to look at him.

“Do you think it will hurt?” She asked the crow.

“Yes… I think it will.” Replied the crow, “Any fear?”

Rowan smirked. “All the fear.” But this was a lie. Rowan felt strangely calm as the storm drew close. “What do you think will come next?”

The crow hopped back and forth on the rock. He looked at the storm and then back at Rowan with a glint in his eye.

“….Some fun.”

Suddenly a searing pain shot through Rowan’s body originating from her left hip. She dropped to the ground doubled over in pain gritting her teeth. She heard a voice: “Sit tight. Help is on the way.” It wasn’t the crow’s. It was familiar but through the pain she couldn’t focus. 

She rolled to her right side and lifted up her shirt; there were blood soaked bandages wrapped around her waist. 

The crow looked down at her from the rock, “I’m sorry my friend.” It looked towards the storm now seconds away from making landfall and then back at her. “It’s time for you to wake up.”


	3. A Divine, a Forest Fire, and a Crow

Rowan was on her back when she opened her eyes. Above her was a hazy dark green sky. Her entire body ached and she felt weak. She turned her head slightly to her left and intense pain shot throughout her, causing her to shut her eyes. She opened them after a moment and looked upon a desolate landscape of dark rock. Some of which was floating in the air.

Suddenly two hands were grasping her right wrist pulling her to her feet. Her vision went dark again as she felt one of the hands move to her left side and someone draped her right arm over their shoulders, holding her tightly.

“We have to find a way out of here.” Stated whoever was carrying her. They had a sweet feminine voice.

“We need to get back to the rift.” Answered an older sounding woman. 

Rowan opened her eyes to look at whoever was carrying her. She saw a beautiful square faced woman with long dirty blonde hair and grey eyes. The woman had a defined jawline and a sharp nose. The woman saw Rowan looking up at her.

“Don’t die on me now shem.” she said with a smirk.

Rowan woke up on a cold stone floor with her hands shackled. She sat up and glanced around. The room looked like a medieval dungeon complete with lit torches. Rowan started to stand up and realized she wasn’t in pain. Her body was sore and tired but there was no pain. Rowan lifted her shirt to examine her wound but found nothing but a small round scar. 

She took stock of herself. She was wearing the same clothes as in the dream with the crow and the train tracks. Hoodie, t-shirt, jeans, and combat boots. That was a dream right? The memory of it was fading like one. She had nothing in her pockets. Rowan instinctively moved to activate her Omni-tool but it was missing. She had it during the siege. The Reaper invasion. How long ago was that? she asked herself. 

She started towards the door when it suddenly opened and three guards in medieval armor entered the room. Two rushed to her sides, grabbing her by the shoulders and elbows. The one on the right kicked the back of her leg as the two of them pressed her down, forcing her to her knees. She heard someone behind her unsheathe a sword and felt the blade at the back of her neck. 

Rowan looked up as a fourth person, a woman with short black hair wearing armor with an insignia of an eye wreathed in flame on its chest, was entering the room. She had a scar on her left cheek. A hooded redhead followed behind her and stood off to the side just barely in Rowan’s peripheral.

“Tell us why we shouldn’t have you executed immediately?” The dark haired woman asked as she circled around Rowan.

“Maybe because I haven’t been told what I’d be getting executed for.” Rowan replied, staring straight ahead.

The circling woman was in front of her again and grabbed her face by her chin. “The Conclave is destroyed. Everyone who attended is dead. Except you and the elf.”

That was definitely not what Rowan expected to hear. Did this woman really just say elf? “I have no idea what you’re talking about. I don’t know anything about a conclave. I have no idea how I got here. I have no idea where _here_ is or who any of you are.” Rowan felt herself losing her temper.

The hooded redhead sturred. “Bring in the other prisoner. Maybe they can get their stories straight.”

Rowan felt the blade that was at the back of her neck lift and the guard walked out of the room sheathing his sword. When he came back he was followed by two guards who were forcefully leading a shackled woman whose dark blonde hair was covering her face. They pushed her to the ground as they entered the room.

The guards holding Rowan released her and they, along with the other guards, formed a circle around the two prisoners; swords at the ready.

As the woman shook her head to move the hair out of her face, familiar grey eyes looked back at Rowan. Curiously, the face that gazed back at her now had dark green, almost black, tattoos that looked like vines. One was over her brow and extended down a little onto the bridge of her nose and a much smaller one was on her chin. “Glad to see you didn’t bleed out my friend.”

“Not entirely convinced I didn’t. What’s going on and who are you? And did you have a face tattoo earlier?” Rowan asked.

“Ellana Lavellan at your service. And yes to the face tattoo, though for reasons…” she looked at the woman in the hood, “It may have been covered, and the other question is better asked to our friends here,” gesturing with her eyes to the two other women. “But what should I call you?” she asked with a wink.

“Rowan. My name is Rowan Pinefire.”

The dark haired woman stopped circling, clearly frustrated. “I am Cassandra Pentaghast, Seeker of the Chantry. And this…” she gestured towards the hooded woman. “Is Leliana. Now I’d like to ask, _again_ , how you two are the only survivors of the destruction of the enclave?”

Ellana shifted her gaze towards Cassandra. “I had nothing to do with that.”

“Then explain this!” Cassandra demanded, grabbing Ellana’s left wrist and raising it up. As she did, a green energy crackled in the palm of Ellana’s hand. A strange sensation ran down Rowan’s spine and Ellana cried out in pain. Cassandra let the wrist go and Ellana recoiled a bit and stared at her hand.

“I can't.” she said quietly. “I don’t know what this is or where it came from.”

Cassandra lunged at Ellana. “You’re lying!” 

Leliana grabbed her by the arm. “We need her, Cassandra.” 

Cassandra wrenched herself free and started circling the prisoners again. Leliana turned to Ellana, “What do you remember?”

“I remember running. I was carrying her,” she gestured to Rowan. “Things were chasing us. And then… a woman?”

“A woman?” Leliana asked intrigued.

“She reached out to us, but then…” she trailed off trying to recall the fading memory.

“And you, what do _you_ remember?” Leliana asked, looking at Rowan.

“Even less than her.”

Cassandra moved in between Leliana and Rowan. “Go to the forward camp, Leliana. I’ll take these two to the rift.” Leliana nodded and left the room. Cassandra turned to Ellana and Rowan, “If you try anything, you’ll be cut down where you stand.”

Ellana looked on as Cassandra started undoing her restraints. “What _did_ happen?”

Cassandra moved to Rowan’s shackles. “It’ll be easier to show you.”

The three stood up. Rowan massaged her wrists and looked over Ellana, this was the first opportunity she had to take a good look at her. In spite of the clothing that made her look impoverished or possibly a servant, Rowan noted that Ellana had the physique of a soldier, physically fit but not bulky. Ellana took a string out of her pocket and started to tie her hair back, revealing the sides of her head were shaved down and she had… pointed ears. That was new for Rowan. Then she remembered Cassandra saying “elf” earlier. 

Suddenly Rowan had flashes of Ellana throwing open large wooden doors and entering a room, a flash of husks chasing them up a slope in a dark world with a green sky, and then one of a crow standing on a boulder looking down at her.

“We have no time to waste.” Cassandra’s words snapped Rowan back to reality. Rowan and Ellana followed her through the building and towards the exit. Ellana slowed a bit allowing Cassandra to gain some distance; Rowan followed suit.

“Rowan is an interesting name. Does it have a meaning?” Ellana asked quietly.

“Little redhead.” 

“You may have been the little redhead at one time…” Ellana replied, looking Rowan up and down smirking. “But not so much now. I like it though… wait, did your parents essentially name you ‘redheaded forest fire’?”

“I know a few who might say it’s fitting.”

“I bet.” Ellana said, more to herself than Rowan. “What is your story, really?”

“Complete honesty… I’m pretty sure I’m dead. I died in that storage room. The train tracks were some kind of metaphorical transition from one life to the next and now I’m in some kind of renfaire themed afterlife.” 

“That’s… okay I understood ‘I died’ and that’s about it.” As Ellana said this, they were exiting the building and stepped out onto a stone bridge with a camp set up on it. It was cold and Rowan could see snow. There were mountains all around them and the sky looked like a storm was raging. Rowan looked around and sure enough, off in the distance was what looked like hurricane clouds but where the eye of the storm should be, a glowing green pillar of erratic energy was at the center. The energy in the sky pulsed and Ellana let out a cry of pain, dropping to her knees as the same green energy pulsed from her left hand. At the same time Rowan felt the tingling sensation from earlier run down her spine, this time more intensely.

Cassandra walked up to Ellana. “Each time the breach expands, your mark spreads… and it’s killing you. It may be the key to stopping this, but there isn’t much time.”

“I’ll do whatever I can. Whatever it takes.”

Rowan helped Ellana to her feet and they continued following Cassandra. As they walked through the camp people stopped and stared. Their faces were mixtures of fear, disgust, and rage.

“They have decided your guilt.” Cassandra explained. “They need it. The people of Haven mourn our Most Holy, Divine Justinia, head of the Chantry. The Conclave was hers. It was a chance for peace between mages and templars. She brought their leaders together and now they are dead.”

Well that’s a fair amount of exposition thought Rowan as they crossed over the bridge. “Where are you taking us?” 

“Ellanna’s mark must be tested on something smaller than the breach.” She replied as the group passed through a guard post and started up the mountainside beyond it. As they traveled, green flaming debris fell from the sky. 

Suddenly Rowan felt the tingling sensation in her spine that was becoming all too familiar. She looked over at Ellan as the mark on her hand flared causing her to collapse to her knees in pain.

Cassandra looked on, clearly worried. “The larger the Breach grows, the more rifts appear, the more demons we face.”

Rowan helped Ellana get back on her feet. “What did she mean by demons?”

Ellana looked at her confused. “You really aren’t from around here are you?”

“I’m not. When we get a chance I’m going to need a crash course on this world of yours.”

“Only if I get to hear about yours.” Ellana said with a wink and a smile. They started crossing another stone bridge. “Cassandra, do you have any idea how we survived the blast?”

“They said you… stepped out of the rift, dragging Rowan with you, then fell unconscious. They say a woman was in the rift behind you two. No one knows who she was.” As she said this, a chunk of flaming debris came hurtling towards. The impact destroyed the bridge and sent the three women, along with several carts of supplies, tumbling down onto the frozen river below. 

As they picked themselves up another fiery green mass hurtled towards them from inside the Breach. It hit the ice a few dozen feet in front of them but instead of smashing through it like Rowan expected, it exploded sending green energy upwards and from this burst of energy a creature emerged. The creature had dark grey skin stretched so tightly over its body there were rips exposing the muscle underneath. It stood hunched over with a hood on its head and wore what looked like the tattered remains of a robe.

Cassandra was the first on her feet. “Stay behind me.” She readied her sword and shield and charged at the creature.

Rowan looked at Ellana. “I’m guessing that’s a demon?”

“A type. It’s called a shade.” She replied as they both got to their feet.

A bubbling black substance appeared on the ice in between them and Cassandra. More green energy burst upward and another shade came rushing at them. Instinctually Rowan threw out a hand and held the shade in a biotic stasis field. She looked over at Ellana who was staring open mouthed at the blue aura surrounding Rowan. “I can only hold this thing for so long,” she pleaded as it struggled against her.

Ellana looked around. One of the carts that came down with them was full of weapons. She grabbed a two handed sword, ran forward, and brought the sword down on the demon’s hunched neck, severing its head. She then looked back at Rowan with a look of disbelief as the blue biotic aura faded. “What are you?”

It was suddenly occurring to Rowan that as strange as this new world was to her, she might be just as much of an oddity to it. “Umm… magic?” 

“Try again.” Ellana replied.

“Are you telling me this is a world of elves, demons, and tears in the sky but not magic?”

“I’m telling you that I am very familiar with this world and its magic. And _you_ are _not_ it. Now, what. Are. _You_?”

Rowan paused trying to find a quick but suitable answer. “Something new,” she said without breaking eye contact.

“Something new. Yeah okay, I can work with that.” She pointed at Rowan and circled her with her finger, “Whatever _that_ was though, I’d recommend keeping it to yourself for now.” As she said this, Cassandra came running towards them sword out.

“Drop your weapon. _Now!_ ”

“Easy, easy. We have to trust each other if we’re going to fix this.” Ellana slowly started to put her sword down.

Cassandra sighed. “Wait. You’re right. You two could have fled but you chose to fight. I also need to remember you agreed to come willingly.” Cassandra looked at Rowan. “You should arm yourself as well.”

Rowan looked over the weapons from the cart. She saw bows, swords, axes. Was it too much to ask for a rifle? Rowan asked herself. She grabbed a sword and a round wooden shield. She gave the sword a few practice swings. A shield is a shield Rowan mused, and she knew how to stab people.

The trio moved on to the forward camp to meet up with Leliana. Along the way they encountered several more shades, as well as ghostly apparitions Ellana called wraiths that seemed to be made of the same green energy as the rift and Ellana’s mark. Cassandra and Ellana dispatched the demons skillfully while Rowan, to her own surprise, became quickly accustomed to her new equipment. What she lacked in skill she made up for with an intense fury that overwhelmed even these demonic creatures. At one point Rowan overheard Ellana remarking to Cassandra that she seemed just as comfortable beating demons to death with the blunt object that was her shield as she was hacking and slashing at them. Cassandra replied back that she had musings of her own. About both women. Both of them held no hesitations about either charging into battle without a scrap of armor on nor coming to her aid, she who was so recently their captor and accuser. She respected them greatly for that.

They made their way along the frozen river to a set of stone steps that led up the mountainside. Cassandra was still taking lead. “This way, we’re getting close to the rift. You can hear the fighting.”

“Who’s fighting?” asked Ellana.

“You’ll see soon. We must help them.”

The stairs led up a slope and at the top, the party could see the ruins of a stone building and a green tear floating in the air, around which two men were fighting off several shades. One was slightly taller than Rowan, bald headed, and pointed ears like Ellana’s. Elemental energies flew from his staff towards the demons. The top of the other man’s head barely reached Rowan’s chest. Despite his height, Rowan thought he looked like he jumped off the cover of one of her mother’s romance novels, with his chiseled jaw and his open shirt exposing his muscular chest. All he needed was a strong breeze and to let his hair down. This world has elves why wouldn’t it have dwarves she thought to herself. At his disposal was a crossbow that looked sophisticated and expertly crafted. Its advanced construction allowed it to shoot at a rapid pace. She found herself suddenly more fascinated with the crossbow than its owner. 

As Rowan and the group rushed to the aid of these two, she slowed and then stopped as she neared the rift. She could hear voices coming from it. Voices that were too distant for her to make out what they were saying. She stood transfixed for a moment, staring at the rift when suddenly flames shot out of the ground in front of her, the heat of which caused her to reflexively protect her face with her shield and take a step back. Rowan peeked out from behind her shield just in time to see a blob of sentient lava with arms charge at her. She managed to block its strike but the force of it knocked her to the ground. She looked up and saw the creature looming over her about to strike again when the bald elf was suddenly at her side swinging his staff at the demon. There was the sound of crackling ice and a white blast hit the demon turning it to solid ice. “It is advisable to not let your guard down when fighting demons.” he said almost smugly. This was quickly followed by a crossbow bolt bursting through the demon’s chest from behind, shattering it to pieces. Rowan looked for where it came from, the dwarf waved and gave her a wink.

The party, now five strong, easily dispatched the rest of the demons that surrounded the rift. As soon as they did, the elf grabbed Ellana by the left wrist. “Quickly, before more come through!” He thrust her hand towards the tear in the sky and a beam of green unstable looking energy connected the mark on her hand with the rift. When this happened the voices Rowan could hear became a bit clearer but she was still unable to make anything out. After a second the rift collapsed in on itself and vanished.

Ellana looked at her hand and then at the patch of air where the rift was. “What did you do?” she asked the elf.

“ _I_ did nothing.” He replied calmly, “The credit is yours.”

“You mean this?” she asked, offering out her left hand.

“Whatever magic opened the Breach in the sky also placed that mark upon your hand.” He said with an air of a teacher speaking on a familiar subject. “I theorized the mark might be able to close the rifts that have opened in the Breach’s wake. And it seems I was correct.”

Cassandra approached them. “Meaning it could also close the Breach itself.”

The elf’s eyes never left Ellana. “Possibly. It seems you hold the key to our salvation.”

The shorter man chuckled. “Good to know! Here I thought we’d be ass deep in demons forever.” He walked towards the group. “Varric Tethras: Rogue, storyteller, and occasionally unwelcome tagalong.” Cassandra scoffed, unamused at this introduction.

Rowan cleared her throat. “That’s quite the crossbow you have there.

“Isn’t she? Bianca and I have been through a lot together.”

“Her name is Bianca?”

“Of course. And she’ll be great company in the valley.” he said with a smile.

Cassandra cut between them. “Absolutely not. Your help is appreciated, Varric, but… “

Varric stopped her, “Have you been in the valley lately, Seeker? You’re soldiers aren’t in control anymore. You need me.”

Cassandra made a disgusted noise and walked a few steps away.

The elf gently placed his hand on Rowan's shoulder. “My name is Solas, if there are to be introductions. I am pleased that you both still live.” addressing her and Ellana.

Varic smirked. “He means, ‘I stopped _you_ from bleeding to death and,” her turned to Ellana, “I kept that mark from killing _you_ while you slept.’”

Rowan perked up at hearing this. “You seem to know a lot about all of this.”

Cassandra was back at their side. “Solas is an apostate mage.”

Solas’ relaxed demeanor broke for a split second at being called an “apostate” but was quickly fixed. “Technically all mages are now apostates, Cassandra. My travels have allowed me to learn much of the Fade, far beyond the experience of any Circle mage.” Rowan caught a slight edge to that last bit. He continued, “I came to offer whatever help I can give in regards to closing the Breach.”

The group continued onto the forward camp. They fought through several more groups of demons and reached the wooden ramparts of the camp entrance. Just in front of the gate was another rift. The five of them quickly dispatched the creatures that emerged from it and Ellana sealed it tight. Though once again, Rowan was able to hear voices coming from the rift and felt a tingle in her spine any time this mysterious energy came into play. Whether it was a rift, the mark, or the mark closing a rift.

Inside the camp, the group approached Leliana who was standing next to a robed man examining a document. “You made it.” she said, with a note of concern in her voice. She turned to the man next to her. “Chancellor Roderick, this is…”

“I know who they are,” he replied, annoyed. He looked at Cassandra and gestured at Rowan and Ellana. “As Grand Chancellor of the Chantry, I hereby order you to take these criminals to Val Royeaux to face execution.”

“You order _me?_ You are a glorified clerk. A bureaucrat!” Cassandra said snapping at him.

“And you are a thug, but a thug that supposedly serves the Chantry!” Roderick shot back.

As Leliana and Cassandra started to argue with the Chancellor about who was in charge and what to do with their prisoners, Rowan drifted to the edge of the bridge that the camp was nestled on, the edge that looked out towards the Breach. As she stared off into the distance, she started to recall the monstrous storm made of green lightning, and then for a split second she swore that on the wind blowing in her direction was the sound of a train and its horn.

The Breach flared with life and Rowan looked around for Ellana. The mark on her hand had flared with the Breach. Cassandra stepped towards Ellana. “How do you think we should proceed?”

“We should take the mountain pass.” Ellana replied. “But is there no one we can send to help the soldiers?”

Rowan rejoined the group. “I can go, though I don’t know how much help I’d be alone.”

Leliana smiled and looked at Cassandra. “You go save my scouts and I’ll go save your soldiers.”

Rowan looked at her with a curious face.

Leliana noticed, “I’ve alway been quite handy with a bow.” She said grabbing one from a barrel near the table.

“Alright then. We’ll see you in the valley, bring everyone you can.” Cassandra nodded towards Rowan and set off with Ellana, Solas, and Varric.

As Leliana led Rowan towards the front lines she also pulled every guard they passed from their post, ordering them to join. “If we encounter any rifts we are not going to be able to seal them. Our best bet will be to clear the demons and leave behind a handful of soldiers to kill anymore that emerge.”

The pair reached what was once the entrance to a large stone building, the wall and doorway were now all that stood of the building. Walking through it led out onto a battlefield, at the center of which was a rift surrounded by soldiers fighting demons. Mostly shades but there were a few rage demons in the mix. 

Rowan looked over at Leliana who was already firing off shots with her bow. Very quickly it became clear that “quite handy” was an understatement as demon after demon fell under a barrage of arrows. Rowan turned back to the fighting and saw a female dwarf with a dark buzz cut wearing hooded leather armor, hacking through several shades with her daggers. As the last one fell, a long lanky hand burst upwards from the ground, grabbed her by the torso and lifted her into the sky as the spindly creature attached to it launched into the air. The demon came down and slammed the dwarf onto the ground and pinned her there. It lifted her into the air, above its head and prepared to bring her down once more. Rowan planted her feet like a sprinter waiting for the starting gun, glanced at Leliana as the blue aura enveloping her caught her eye, and propelled herself shield first into the chest of the demon. 

She slammed into the demon sending it flying back several feet before being cleaved in half by a large bearded great axe. The axe’s beard extended halfway down the shaft. Wielding the axe was a giant of a man made of pure muscle wearing plate armor. He was half a foot taller than Rowan. He had pale peach colored skin and vibrant red hair in a tight braid that went down to his waist. A bushy red beard with beads and braids completed the look. What caught Rowan off guard the most was the horns at the top of his head. They extended back the length of his head and then curve forward like two serpents waiting to strike. There were three gold rings attached to the underside of the right horn. He approached Rowan.

“Nice set up.” He said patting her on the shoulder as he walked past. He picked the dwarf up off the ground. “You’re a little light for a dwarf.” 

“You’re a little short for a Qunari.” She responded knocking on his chest plate. “What happened to the mage?” As she asked this, three shades burst from the rift and charged at them.

The human, the dwarf, and the Qunari readied themselves when a bolt of lightning, traveling horizontally, struck the shade on the right and traveled through it to the others, frying all of them. The trio looked to the right and saw a brown haired man with a beard and his hair up in a bun, smile and wave at them. He was wearing a long robe. 

Before anyone could say anything, a blonde man with short hair was running up to them. He was wearing armor with what looked like a dark lion’s mane draped around its shoulders. As he reached them he was met by Leliana who came up from behind them. “Commander Cullen, glad to see you well.”

“Leliana, what are you doing here with one of the prisoners?” he demanded, ignoring her statement.

“Rescuing you and your men. There’s no time for questions. You need to hold this line while we continue on into the valley. I’m taking half of the soldiers with us, we have found a way to close the Breach.” She turned and pointed at the three standing beside Rowan. “You three stay here and make sure nothing that exits the rift lives.” Without waiting for any replies Leliana continued on and Rowan followed.

They traveled a short distance, what must have been the length of the building and then dropped down from the foundation into a clearing. Scattered around the clearing were charred and petrified corpses frozen in the moment of their death. Some of them were still burning. 

The Breach lay just in front of them encircled by large shards of rocks jutting out into the sky. Rowan stared at the crater that was once a temple. For the first time she realized the extent of the explosion that destroyed the conclave. The ruins that they’ve been passing through were probably all intact until recently. What she’s been seeing is the aftermath. 

They entered the broken shell of the Temple of Sacred Ashes and found Cassandra’s party already there. Cassandra and Ellana were looking at the crater and the rift at the center of it directly below the Breach. Rowan noted that this rift looked different, it looked like it had solidified into an almost crystalline construct that was continuously shifting and moving. She could also hear the voices coming from it. This time the voices were much louder but there were so many of them and all of them overlapping, she couldn’t make out anything coherent.

Cassandra spoke to Ellana without breaking her gaze, “That is where you walked out of the fade and our soldiers found you and Rowan. They say a woman was in the rift behind you. No one knows who she was.” 

Leliana saw them and ran to Cassandra. “You’re here. Thank the Maker.” she exclaimed happily.

“Leliana, have your archers take up positions around the temple.” Cassandra ordered. No time for pleasantries Rowan thought. Cassandra turned back to Ellana. “This is your chance to end this. Are you ready?”

Ellana looked up at the Breach. “How exactly are we getting up there?”

Solas stepped up. “The rift is the key. It was the first, seal it and perhaps we seal the Breach.”

Leliana and the archers took up positions, bows at the ready. Cassandra led her party, now with Rowan and the other soldiers, down into the crater. As they descended they heard a voice echoing around them. “Now is the hour of our victory.” The male voice boomed. “Bring forth the sacrifice.” 

Cassandra stopped. “What are we hearing?”

Solas looked around as if watching the echos bounce off the walls of the crater. “At a guess: the person who created the Breach.”

Rowan smirked. “I can’t help but notice, the voice sounds nothing like your two primary suspects.” Cassandra shot her a furious look, her expression quickly softened though and she gave a nod of agreement.

As they walked, Rowan took note of the strange red crystals that looked like they had burst upward from the ground, as did Varric, “That’s red lyrium Seeker. What’s it doing here?”

“I don’t know Varric, but it is worrisome.”

The group reached the bottom and Ellana started to approach the rift holding the mark on her left hand aloft. As it crackled with green energy, the group heard a woman’s voice echo throughout the crater. “Help me! Please!”

And then another. “What’s going on here?” it was Ellana.

“Kill them now!” the male voice boomed.

Cassandra stared in disbelief at Ellana. “That was your voice. Most Holy called out to you but…” she was interrupted by the sound of a third woman issuing a furious and primal roar. It sounded like Rowan. Both Cassandra and Ellana looked at her, Ellana now sharing Cassandra’s look of disbelief. 

Cassandra looked like she was about to say something but was again interrupted. This time by the rift surging and letting loose a flash of green light. In front of them appeared ghostly apparitions of a figure cloaked in shadow and a woman in a tall hat, suspended mid air with swirling red energy circling her arms that were outstretched at her sides. Upon seeing this woman Cassandra muttered the name “Justinia”. Then an apparition of Rowan appeared, she was on her knees bent over clutching her left side. This was followed by one of Ellana running into the vision. The apparition of Justinia turned and looked at Ellana’s, “Run while you can! Warn them!”.

“We have intruders. Kill them both” The booming voice commanded.

Another bright flash of green light emanated from the rift and the visions were gone. Cassandra looked at Ellana and Rowan. “You _were_ there! Who attacked? And the Divine… is she? Was the vision true? What are we seeing?”

“I don’t remember.” Ellana replied, taking a step back.

Solas was standing almost directly under the rift and was staring up at it. “Echos of what happened here. The Fade bleeds into this place. This rift is not sealed, but it is closed… albeit temporarily.” He turned around and walked back to Ellana. “I believe that with the mark, the rift can be opened, and then sealed properly and safely. However opening the rift will likely draw attention from the other side.”

Cassandra drew her sword. “That means demons. Stand Ready!” The archers with Leliana stood ready and the swordsman that came down with the party drew their weapons. 

Ellana again approached the rift and held out her hand. A beam of unstable energy shot out of her hand and connected with the swirling crystalline structure of the rift. After a moment the crystal burst, tearing the rift open, and out of which the largest demon Rowan had yet to see emerged. The demon was easily three times the size of Rowan. Its skin was a purplish grey. On its shoulders and various other places on its body, large spikes formed out of it almost like jagged mountain peaks. It’s monstrous head had nine eyes and two pairs of serpentine horns that emerged from the back of its head.

Rowan stared up at it. “And this would be a what demon?”

Both Ellana and Solas looked back at her, “Pride demon” they said together.

“Oh. Of course.”

Cassandra and her soldiers rushed forward, charging the demon as arrows rained down on it. 

Everyone was doing their part to bring it down while also trying to avoid blows from its massive claws and the twisted, spiked growths that extended from its forearms. Ellana and Rowan danced in and out of the creature's reach along with Cassandra and her men, hacking at its limbs and torso but seemingly doing no damage. The arrows raining down on it from Leliana and her archers bounced off its tough skin. Occasionally Varric’s crossbow bolts would penetrate but few seemed to cause it any pain. 

Solas’ magic seemed to be the only thing doing damage. A lightning bolt of his struck the demon in the chest causing it to stumble back and roar out in pain. In retaliation it swung its arm down across its chest and a whip made of magical energy emerged from its hand and lashed out. Solas managed to roll out of the way but four of Cassandra’s soldiers weren’t as lucky and were sliced in half. 

Cassandra fell back from the beast, “We can’t penetrate its hide. We need to bring it down.” she told Rowan and Ellana as they regrouped with her. Suddenly Rowan had an idea. 

“Ellana, help keep it busy.” Rowan ran a bit further from the pride demon and spun back towards it, “Cassandra! Kneel down and get your shield ready!” 

“What are you doing?” Cassandra asked.

“You're going to launch me.”

“I’m going to _what?_ ”

“You. Are. Going. To launch me.”

“By the Maker.” Cassandra said exasperated. She knelt down and readied her shield in front of her, angled up.

Rowan took off running towards Cassandra. Just before she reached her, Rowan hopped up, planted her feet onto the shield, bent both knees, and used Cassandra as a springboard. Rowan was launched upwards into the air. She twirled the grip of the sword in her hand so the blade faced down, the blue biotic aura enveloped her once again, and when she reached the apex of her jump she used her biotic charge technique. In the blink of an eye she was slamming into the demon and driving her sword into its left pectoral muscle. The sword went so deep that the crossguard was fully embedded in the skin. The creature let out a massive roar and started flailing around in pain and confusion. Rowan held tight to the sword and started slamming the edge of her shield over and over again into its face, roaring right back at it.

Suddenly she felt a giant hand slam into her back and large fingers wrap around her. The pride demon ripped her off of it and threw her to the ground. She slammed onto the rocky floor, bounced, and rolled a few times. She came to a stop on her back and stared up at the sky, the wind knocked out of her. 

Before she could fully catch her breath the demon was on top of her and bringing its gigantic foot down to crush her. Rowan instinctually put her shield between herself and the demon and with the last of her strength erected a biotic barrier just as its foot was about to connect. She felt the barrier shudder. The demon continued to stomp down on Rowan, keeping at bay any who tried to help with its energy whips that it was now producing from either hand. 

Each time its foot came down on the barrier, Rowan could feel a little bit of air escape her lungs as the barrier threatened to buckle. Her world started to go black. As her vision darkened and the sound of everything around her started to drift away, she heard the sound of wind. Carried on the wind, the sound of a train coming towards her blowing its horn. Rowan’s head rolled to the side and she made eye contact with Ellana. Her hair was a mess and she was bleeding from a head wound. Her mouth moved but Rowan couldn’t hear what she said, but going by the movements of her lips, it looked an awful lot like “Fuck this.” The elf charged towards the demon. Rowan’s vision snapped back to her as did the sounds of the world around her. Just before Ellana reached the demon, foot in the air readying for another strike, something shot out of the fade rift towards the demon.

_CAW!_

A crow slammed into the face of the pride demon, digging its talons into six of its eyes. The force of the hit was strong enough to cause the demon to lose its balance and stumble backwards. As it spun around and brought its raised leg down, putting all of its weight on it in an attempt to regain its balance, Ellana was there readying a massive strike. But not with the sword in her hand. As her empty left hand passed above her right shoulder, the hilt of a sword appeared out of nowhere, and from it a broad, almost transparent blade emerged. She swung the blade with all of her might and cleaved the demon’s leg in two just below the knee. The creature crumpled to the ground and rolled onto its back screaming in pain. 

Solas ran to her side and shot an ice blast at the demon freezing it. Ellana threw the sword in her right hand to the ground and grabbed the staff from Solas; she jumped onto the demon’s torso and ran up its chest. When she got to its head she flipped the spectral sword around and slammed both the sword and the staff into the pride demon’s face as a lightning bolt came down, passing through the staff and striking the demon. The demon exploded into a thousand shards of ice and Ellana fell to the ground.

Ellana picked herself up, tossed the staff back to Solas as the spectral sword faded away, and started to run towards Rowan. Rowan’s vision and hearing were starting to dim again as the adrenaline left her system. As it did the pain that it was blocking out started to flood over her body. 

Solas caught the staff and immediately extended it, blocking Ellana’s path. Rowan couldn’t hear what was being said but Solas was gesturing violently towards the rift and the Breach. Ellana pushed the staff away from her but still turned around and ran to the rift. She extended her left hand and the now familiar stream of energy shot forth connecting with the rift. The rift pulsed and Rowan heard a voice. It was a man’s voice, it didn’t emanate from any one direction nor did it echo off the crater walls. Rather it came from within her head. 

“Hold on tight. Help is on the way.” he said. She heard these words from this voice before, but she couldn’t remember where. They were comforting words but they filled her with immense sadness. Her eyes filled with tears. 

Through the tears she caught movement out of the corner of her left eye. With intense effort she turned her head and looked. A crow stared back at her. It tilted its head curiously. She blacked out.


	4. There Will Come Soft Rains

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for this taking so long. Also for it being a bit shorter than the other chapters, wanted to get it out to hopefully get the ball rolling again.

The Singing Maiden was quiet in the early morning as Ellana finished her breakfast. The tavern was nearly empty except for Maryden tuning her instrument, Flissa standing behind the bar chatting with Krem, the latter stealing a glance every so often at the minstrel, and then Sera in the corner curled up asleep in a chair; the blonde elf whimpered and twitched her leg like a dreaming dog chasing a rabbit. Ellana paid for her meal and stepped out into the brisk mountain air.

As she exited the building she looked up at the looming chantry where today’s meetings were due to start. Ellana set off in the opposite direction and made sure to pull her hood up concealing her face. It was too early to be the Herald of Andraste. The walk to the healer’s hut was not only a short one but also a familiar one. This has become a daily routine these past few weeks whenever she is in Haven. As Ellana rounded the corner she saw another familiar sight: Stilay, who was simultaneously the tallest dwarf you’d ever meet and also the shortest qunari, sitting with his back against the wall of the healer’s hut, seemingly asleep. Standing on his shoulders was the dwarf Jeryn. She was peering into the window, oblivious to everything around her. The mage should be in the hut, probably asleep in his work, Ellana thought to herself as she looked around. And where is… there you are. On the building opposite the healer’s hut was a crow watching intently. Ellana didn’t like the crow. Something about it made her uneasy. Not the least of which was the fact that she’d swear she saw it come out of the rift.  
Ellana turned back to the two by the window, “Any change?”

  
Jeryn, startled, winced. “Geez, give a girl a little warning Herald. But no. Still asleep. Tobias is inside with Solas, he said they’re going to try and find her in the Fade again.”  
“Don’t you have a meeting with Cassandra this morning?” A gruff voice asked. “Iron Bull was trying to recruit us again; said something about an upcoming mission.” Stilay wasn’t as asleep as he appeared.  
“Not rushing to get to that.” Ellana responded. “Cassandra is still angry at me for hiding the whole I have magic thing.”  
Jeryn plopped down on Stilay’s shoulder and leaned an elbow on one of his horns, “Well go give your girlfriend an update on what she’s been missing. If the Seeker comes by we’ll tell her you’re still at the tavern.”  
Ellana moved to the front door and felt something land on her shoulder. The crow was along for the ride.  
“I don’t like you.”  
The crow stared at her with a look that clearly said, I don’t care.

* * *

The hut was dark and quiet with only a single lit candle and the slightest of morning sunlight slipping through the shutters. Once her eyes adjusted, Ellana could see Tobias slumped over the apothecary table fast asleep.  
“He fell asleep several hours ago.” said a voice from the dark. “Not the most impressive mage but I enjoy his company. He’s fairly open minded for one whose upbringing is so rooted in the Chantry.” Solas was sitting in the corner of the room reading a book by candlelight. “I see you two are getting along.” He said eyeing the bird.

  
Ellana shooed the bird off her shoulder as she crossed the room, “A mutual understanding of dislike,” she sat down at Rowan’s bedside. She’d been unresponsive since the fight with the pride demon. “I hear you’re going to try and find her in the Fade again.”

  
“It’s the only thing we can think of. Physically she’s perfectly fine. Her wounds are healed, she just won’t wake up.” Solas got up from his chair, scratched the crow, who was now on the bedpost, under the chin and made his way over to the window. “I can’t figure out why she is so hard to find though.” He pulled back the shutters and took a step back in surprise upon seeing the faces of Jeryn and Stilay staring back at him. Stilay was holding Jeryn up by her armpits so that they could both see into the hut. “Anyway. Yes I was planning on taking another trip into the Fade.” He made his way over to Ellana who sat staring at Rowan.

  
“I want to come with you this time––” she stopped mid sentence and froze. She had reached out to move some hair out of Rowan’s face. “Solas come here.”  
Solas moved to her side and immediately saw what caused the alarm. The mark on Ellana’s hand was glowing and a similar glow was emanating from Rowan’s chest under her shirt. Solas pushed Ellana out of the way and moved closer but the glow suddenly vanished. “What did you do?” he demanded in a tone Ellana had not heard before. He saw the confused look on her face and recomposed himself. “What happened?” As he asked this, the crow hopped down to Rowan’s shoulder, seemingly to investigate herself.

  
“I don’t know. All I did was––” Ellana moved her hand over Rowan’s body and as it passed over her chest the mark sparked alive with energy and there was a flash of light from Rowan’s chest.

* * *

Ellana was staring into a clear blue sky when she opened her eyes. She rolled her head to the side and felt the faint prick of grass blades.. She sat up and looked around, a large field stretched out in all directions. It looked, felt, and smelled like a warm summer day.

She stood up to better survey the area and found that every muscle, every joint, ached intensely. It felt like she had been run over by Iron Bull. There were no landmarks of any kind and seemingly no one around.

  
A steady breeze rolled across the field and with it the sound of laughter. She closed her eyes and tried to find the direction it was coming from. Then with no better options, Ellana headed towards the noise.

  
It didn’t take long before she found the merriment. Two young girls were holding hands, helping each other balance and walk along long metal beams that were laying in the grass. One had long red hair and the other extremely short black hair. Both were facing away from Ellana and both wore clothing completely foreign to her. The redhead wore a pale yellow dress with long pants underneath and the other wore a black short sleeved shirt, shorts that would have looked like underwear if it wasn’t for the material they were made of, and under those shorts, tights that looked like fishnets.  
Curious, she approached and called out but the girls paid her no attention. The strange metal seemed to stretch into the horizon in either direction and wooden blanks lay underneath. It almost looked like a strange walkway. She called out to the girls again who were now within arms reach but still they seemed unable to hear her. She was about to reach out and touch one of them when something clicked in her mind as she stared at the back of the one girl’s head. A feeling that she had since waking up here. She wasn’t awake. The Fade. This was someone’s dream. Excited, she quickly moved in front of the girls to get a look at their faces. She looked upon the redhead and excitement took over.  
“Rowan!”

  
The redheaded girl still took no notice. This was definitely Rowan, but she looked considerably younger. Ellana guessed she was in her teens. The elf reached out to touch her shoulder but her hand passed right through it.

  
“Wrong one.” said a voice behind her.

  
Ellana spun around and was face to face with a young woman with long black hair that spilled out of a hooded sweater-like top similar in style to what Rowan, her Rowan, wore. Her pants were made of a strange looking material that was ripped at the knees. She had a pretty face, though most of it was obscured by the hood and the hair. Ellana looked at the girls and then back to this stranger. All of their clothes were similar to Rowan’s, or at least look like they could be from the same place. “Who are you?” Ellana asked in almost a whisper, then regaining her composure and taking a defensive stance, “Are you a spirit or a demon?”

  
The girl chuckled and pointed over her shoulder. “Your friend is waiting for you over there.”

  
Ellana looked over the girl’s shoulder and saw a body laying in the grass. She looked the stranger over once more before rushing off. “Rowan!”  
“Yeah?” The adult redhead responded nonchalantly without moving.

  
Ellana got to her side and looked down at Rowan lounging in the grass. After a moment of staring blankly, “I’m not going to lie, I’m a little upset that you’re so okay.”

  
“Sorry, what?” asked Rowan. She propped herself up on her elbows and looked Ellana in the eye. “You’re not who I was expecting.

  
Ellana looked around for the young woman in the hood but could only see the giggling girls. Curiously, the girls were back at the point along the metal beams when Ellana first saw them. “Do you know where you are?”

  
“Up until now, I was assuming I had died again.” She stretched as if she just woke up from a nap. “But what are you doing here?”

  
“What do you mean you thought you were dead?”

  
“I’ve been here before. Before I met you. I got zapped by the orb in my world and woke up here. I followed those train tracks,” she pointed to the strange pathway the girls were playing on, “and when I reached the end I wound up in your world. Cut to getting curb stomped by a fifteen foot demon and here I am. I figured if I followed the train tracks again I’d end up somewhere new.” Rowan laid back down in the grass, closing her eyes.

  
“Why didn’t you?” Ellana asked, sitting down next to her.

  
“Why didn’t I what?”

  
“Why didn’t you move on, go somewhere new?”

  
“Oh that. Look, I know I give off a certain….personality type. But even for me dying, reawakening in a new world, and then dying again, all in the time span of less than a day. That’s a lot to process. Also…,” she side eyed Ellana, “I’m not ready to move on from that last world. I’m grieving.”

  
“You were in our world, like you said, for less than a day. What do you have to grieve?” Ellana asked with a raised eyebrow.

  
Rowan closed her eyes again. “I met someone and felt a…connection to them…. But then I lost them. I’m now grieving that loss.”

  
“In so short a time?”

  
Rowan sat up, took a deep breath, and surveyed the area around them. She sat staring at the two girls for a minute or two. She then inhaled deeply through her nose, “I smell rain,” she said casually as her gaze drifted back to Ellana. She let out a small chuckle as she laughed at a joke only she heard, “I take it you don’t have U-Haul’s in your world?”

  
“What is a you-haul?” Ellana asked, thoroughly confused with this conversation.

  
“It’s a...you know what? I don’t actually know.” She stared off into space. “Something from before my time.” She looked at Ellana, seemingly coming to a realization. “Wait, you’re really here aren’t you? Why are you here?”

  
“You’re in the Fade. I came looking for you. At least I think we’re in the Fade.” Ellana looked around. She’d traveled into the Fade many times before, but she’d never seen a dream as crisp and clear as this.

  
“The Fade? What is that?”

  
“The Fade is where we go when we’re asleep and where our souls go after we die. It’s also where demons come from and where the rifts connect to.”

  
“So I am dead?” Rowan asked with a note of disappointment in her voice.

  
“No, you’re asleep in Haven. You’ve been asleep for weeks. I came here to find you and hopefully wake you up.”

  
“You can do that?”

  
“I can.” Ellana said, straightening her posture. “Though I will admit this time is a bit more complicated and unintentional.”

  
“What does that mean? Did you do something different this time?”

  
“Well I was planning on entering the Fade to look for you. Solas and I were both going to. But I went to touch you––”

  
“You were touching me when I was asleep?” Rowan asked, smiling.

  
“What? No!” Ellana said blushing. “I was brushing some hair out of your face and––”

  
“Aww, that’s sweet.”

  
Ellana’s face matched Rowan’s hair. “Anyway, when my hand moved near you, the mark connected with you somehow. And I ended up here.”

  
“Huh. Was this the first time you had any reason to touch me?”

  
“I think it was. And can you not say it like that?”

  
“No. No, that’s how we’re going to phrase it. I mean….if you’d done it sooner….has it really been weeks?”

  
“It has.” Ellana stood up and held out her hand. “You ready to leave?”

  
Rowan grabbed the hand and let Ellana pull her up. “Yes, ma’am.”

  
“Wait,” Ellana stopped, “who was the woman I met when I got here? The one with the hooded sweater like yours but without the,” she gestured to the zipper on the front of Rowan’s hoodie, “the metal thing.”

  
“Oh her? Pretty sure she was Death.”

  
“She was death?” Ellana asked in complete shock.

  
“Yeah. The Grim Reaper, Angel of Death, what have you. Death. She had that familiarity feeling to her, like I knew her….but I’ve never seen her before. Not that I remember.” She had started talking more to herself than Ellana but then snapped back, “Plus, with the whole believing I was dead thing, it fit.”

  
Ellana looked upon her with a mixture of confusion and horror. “That was your god of death?”

  
“More personification of death. You don’t have that in your world?”

  
“We have gods, we have spirits, and we have demons. Spirits and demons take on aspects of mortals’ lives; honor, justice, valor are the more benevolent ones and you’ve met the demons that embody rage and pride. And the gods…our gods were lost to us a long time ago. But no, we don’t have death as a being.”

  
“Huh.” Said Rowan intrigued. “Hold on, so if this isn’t the afterlife or some kind of in between, then what is this place? What is this?” she gestured around her.  
“This is a dream. Probably a memory. Do you know who they are?” Ellana asked, pointing at the girls.

  
“Yeah, that’s me,” she pointed at the redhead, “and that’s….” she trailed off watching the girl with the short hair. Rowan sniffed the air again and a memory washed over her face draining it of color. “Rain.” She said in a hushed whisper. “How do we get out of here?”

  
“I’m not entirely sure how we got here. You said the first time you were brought here there was an orb?” The image of the creature that attacked the Divine and an object he was holding popped into her head.

  
“Yeah it was this small metal ball with ridges on it.” Rowan was shaping an invisible ball with her hands as she spoke, when suddenly the object that she was picturing in her mind manifested into her hands. The orb was gold in color and had strange ridged patterns on it similar to the swirls of fingerprints. Just like she remembered from the museum.  
“How did you do that?” Asked Ellana amazed.

  
“Hell if I know. Any idea what this is?” As she asked, a soft rain started to come down. Rowan became terrified and frantic as she watched the two girls start to giggle loudly in the rain. “Get me out of here!” she demanded shoving the orb into Ellana’s hands.

  
“What’s going on? Why are you so scared, is it the rain? It feels like a sun shower. It should be gone in a minute or two.” Ellana gently put one hand on the orb and the other on Rowan’s shoulder.  
“It won’t be. A storm is coming and then––” she looked at the girls. “I want to leave now!” She yelled and gripped the orb harder. As she did the object started to glow along it’s ridges and a glowing doorway opened next to them.

  
“What is that?” Asked Ellana shakily.  
“It’s not here.”

* * *

Rowan lurched forward smacking her head into someone else’s. Her vision went blurry as a commotion started up around her. There were frantic voices, a lot of movement, and possibly a bird? As her eyesight cleared she saw a familiar blonde haired elf holding her face.

  
“Gods, you really are a hard headed human.”

  
“Your head isn’t exactly made of cotton, elf.”

  
The pair started laughing amongst themselves as a hand landed on Rowan’s shoulder. “Glad to have you back.” Said a soft voice. She looked to her side and Solas was standing next to her. “You had us all worried.” As he said this, Rowan’s eyes focused on the huddled mass behind him. A bearded man, a dwarf with a buzzcut, and something big with horns were keeping a respectful distance but all looked overjoyed that she was awake and well.

  
“I’m sorry, who are you guys?”

  
Both of the men looked ready to speak but the female dwarf cut them off and stepped forward. “We didn’t get the chance for introductions. My name is Jeryn Cadash, fancy robes is Tobias Trevelyan, and the ox-dwarf is Stilay Adaar. You saved my life in the battle after the conclave explosion and we were all worried for you.”

  
Rowan looked to Ellana for further explanation. “The strays have imprinted on you. They’re yours. All of them.” She gestured above Rowan’s head.

  
Rowan tilted her head back to look at the small black mass that looked down on her from the bedpost.

  
“Caw.”


End file.
